chennai l thursday l November 24, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l vellore EDITION Scottish govt loses court battle for referendum Britain’s Supreme Court has ruled that Scotland’s government can’t hold an independence referendum without UK’s consent Nicola Sturgeon, SNP leader and first minister of Scotland | AP U.K. Parliament REFUSES TO GIVE CONSENT Rishi Sunak welcomes ‘Definitive ruling’ The Scottish National Party (SNP) wanted a second referendum on October 19, 2023 but the UK Parliament refused to grant a formal consent. Supreme Court president Lord Reed said the laws that created the devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999 meant it does not have power over areas of the constitution including the union between Scotland and England | P9 ■ ■ Welcoming the verdict, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak termed it a “clear and definitive ruling from the Supreme Court” SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said her party respects the court’s decision but added that the next general election in 2024 will be a ‘de facto referendum’ where people will express their will 2014 THE sCOTS REJECTED THE FIRST REFERENDUM, HELD WITH THE U.K.’S APPROVAL, BY 55-45% CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI SC seeks files related to EC Arun Goel’s appointment Model code case: UP court declares BJP MP absconder Constitution bench says it wants to know if there was any ‘hanky panky’ in the process; government has to submit the papers today N a m ita B aj pai @ Lucknow A district court in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur on Wednesday declared BJP parliamentarian Arun Sagar an absconder following no-shows in court in connection with a case of violation of model code of conduct during the last Lok Sabha polls in 2019. Sagar is accused of getting a wall of Shahjahanpur painted without seeking the administration’s permission. According to Nilima Saxena, special public prosecutor of the Shahjahanpur MP/MLA court, Sagar had used campaign material without permission of the concerned officials in the 2019 polls. He was repeatedly summoned to appear in court but he failed to turn up. Arun Kumar During the Sagar 2019 general elections, the then SDM (Sadar)/Assistant Returning Officer Ved Sigh Chauhan was taking a round of Dadraul, a Vidhan Sabha segment, when he spotted campaign material of Sagar in Rasoolpur village. When Chauhan came to know that the campaign material was transported without prior permission, he lodged a complaint in the Kant police station. While phone calls to Sagar drew no response, BJP leader Dr Chandra Mohan said, “This often happens during elections. I won’t say much about it since the matter is sub-judice. However, law will take it own course and the MP concerned would abide by it.” NO entry to u.a.e. if passport has single name Indians will need to have their full names printed on passport to enter the Gulf nation. The new rules that came into effect on Monday, however, exempt those travelling on residential or employment visas the bench that Goel, a 1985 you are claiming that everybatch IAS officer of Punjab thing is going on smoothly We . TAKING note of the alacrity cadre and a secretary-level of- don’t think it’s a matter where with which the government ficial, was given VRS on Friday we should be withholding ingranted VRS to former bureau- and appointed as EC on Satur- formation. This is not matter crat Arun Goel and appointed day to enable him to start work- related to appointment of milihim as election commissioner, ing from Monday . tary person.” a five-judge Constitution bench “The government appointed The bench also observed that of the Supreme Court on someone in a single the Chief Election Wednesday ordered the Centre day and no one knows Commissioner should to submit all the original files what process was folbe a strong-willed perrelated to the appointment. lowed or what safeson who will not hesiThe five-judge bench headed guards were taken,” tate to act even against by Justice K M Joseph said it Bhushan said. the prime minister, if wants to know if there was any Asking attor ney need be. “hanky panky” because Goel’s general R Venkatara“Suppose there is appointment happened while it mani if the governsome allegation Arun Goel was hearing a plea seeking a ment has any hesitaagainst the prime mincollegium-like system for the tion in presenting the file, the ister and the CEC has to act. Election Commission of India. bench observed that the ap- But the CEC is weak-kneed. He The Centre should not have any pointment was inappropriate does not act. Is it not a complete problem submitting the rele- as the matter was being heard breakdown of the system? The vant files if everything was by the Constitution bench. CEC is supposed to be insulated done as per procedure, the When the AG objected to from political influence and bench observed. The court gave Goel’s appointment being should be independent,” the the Centre time till Thursday to dragged into a case where the bench remarked. produce all the relevant files. court is considering a larger isVenkataramani told the The direction came after ad- sue, Justice Joseph said, “We bench that there had to be a vocate Prashant Bhushan told would like to know… because trigger point for the top court to interfere in such matters. The AG also told the bench that ‘nEED A cec WHO CAN ACT EVEN AGAINST THE PM’ the appointments were on the The Constitution bench said the person appointed as the Chief Election basis on seniority and there Commissioner must be independent and should be willing to act even was no separate appointment against the Prime Minister in the event of serious allegations procedure for CEC. S H R U T I K A K K A R @ New Delhi Japan’s Ritsu Doan (R) scores his team’s first goal against Germany at the Khalifa International Stadium on Wednesday | afp Land of rising sons E x p ress N ews S ervice Silence speaks louder Germany’s players covered their mouths for their team photo before the match in an apparent rebuke of FIFA’s clampdown on plans to wear armbands to protest discrimination in Qatar | AP Japan’s players did not know what to do apart from run in all directions. Some of them were going right, some were going straight, others left. All of them, though, had their arms outstretched. You didn’t need to know the scoreline. Japan had upset World Cup royalty, Germany The four-time champions . failed to kill the match and the Asian powerhouse won 2-1. Il- kay Gundogan had converted a first-half penalty and it was smooth sailing until Japan, who had the reached the last 16 in 2018, went for the jugular in the second half. They rung in the changes and drove at the heart of Germany’s creaking midfield till it crumbled like a house of cards. The defeat leaves Germany needing a result against Spain on Sunday. Or, it could be an early exit.  More on: P11 Gutkha case: Chargesheet bury caste, make crematoria filed against 2 ex-ministers common for all, Hc tells TN cludes the names of two former DGP-rank officials, former Chennai police commissioner The Central Bureau of Investi- S George and former director gation (CBI) has filed a supple- general of police T K Rajenmentary chargesheet in the dran. The supplementary gutkha scam case against 21 chargesheet comes four years p e o p l e, i n c l u d i n g after the first one was former AIADMK minfiled by the agency on isters C Vijayabaskar November 16, 2018. and B V Ramanaa, beT he preliminary fore the CBI special chargesheet was filed court in Chennai a few after the CBI raided 35 days ago. locations across ChenThis is the first time n a i , T i r u v a l l u r, the names of the Thoothukudi, Guntur C Vijayabaskar former ministers are (Andhra Pradesh), mentioned in the charge sheet Mumbai and Bengaluru, inin the case which has been un- cluding properties linked to Vider probe by multiple agencies jayabaskar, Rajendran, George since 2017. Vijayabaskar is now and Ramanaa, and several oththe MLA of Viralimalai assem- er top officials of the central bly constituency . excise, food safety and health The chargesheet also in- departments | P5 C S hivaku m ar & A M I T M U K H E R J E E @ Chennai R S I VA K U M A R @ Chennai Lamenting that the shackles of caste could not be broken even after 75 years of independence, the Madras High Court has asked the state government to make a good beginning by turning burial grounds common for all communities. “Even a secular government is forced to provide for separate burning and burial grounds on communal lines,” observed a division bench of Justices R Subramanian and K Kumaresh Babu in its recent order in dispute over burying bodies in a remote village in Salem district. “Equality has to start at least when the person travels to his/her maker,” judges said. Quoting the lines of celebrated poet Bharathiyar that ‘there are no castes’, the bench noted that even in 21st century, we are grappling with casteism and division along caste lines in burying the dead. The situation has to change for the better, the bench said, and hoped that “The government of the day would come forward to make a beginning by making at least burial grounds and burning grounds common to all communities.” The judges made the observations while setting aside an order of a single judge (writ court) who ordered exhumation of a body that was said to have been buried on a plot, a cart track, not designated as burial ground at Navakurichi village in Athur in Salem district. Separate burial grounds have been provided for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) and Backward Class communities in the village. Quoting laws governing crematoria, the bench said burial is prohibited in a panchayat only within 90 metres from habitation or drinking water sources. There are various customs across TN over burning and burial of the dead. There are villages where there is no specific place earmarked for cremation. In such places, the vilage’s customs prevail, the bench noted. e x p r ess r ea d EPS petitions Guv over graft, law & order in TN Chennai: Levelling corruption allegations against the ruling DMK, opposition AIADMK leader K Palaniswami on Wednesday petitioned Governor R N Ravi seeking action and alleged that law and order has collapsed in TN. “Murders have become daily affair and all this was happening due to an inefficient puppet CM ruling the state,” EPS said | P4 Teen electrocuted while helping to pluck coconut Cuddalore: A 17-year-old student was electrocuted to death after a power line snapped and fell on him while he was helping pluck coconuts from a tree at his teacher’s relative’s house near Panruti on Tuesday. The teacher has been sacked and arrested. S Arasu was a first-year student of a private ITI in Panruti | P4 murders most foul Shraddha’s 2-yr-old SOS to Drug addict out of rehab kills police revealed Aaftab design four of his family in Delhi MBC mom kills girl to stop her from wedding BC man U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi U jwal J alali @ New Delhi E x p ress N ews S ervice @ Tenkasi The horrific case of murder and dismemberment of a woman in Delhi by her live-in partner took a new turn on Wednesday after the copy of a letter she wrote to the Maharashtra police exactly two years ago revealing his threats to “kill and cut her into pieces” surfaced. “Aaftab Amin Poonawala has been abusing me and beating me up. Today he tried to kill me by suffocating me and he scared and blackmails me that he will kill me cut me up in pieces and throw me away wrote Shraddha Walker ,” in a hand-written letter dated November 23, 2020. Shraddha was allegedly strangled on May 18 this year, her body chopped into multiple pieces and disposed of. Shraddha’s letter is now a crucial piece of evidence to establish Aaftab was a repeat offender and had a history of domestic violence. While the Palghar police acknowledged receipt of her letter, they claimed she had a subsequently written another letter withdrawing the complaint. “We went to their house twice. They told us that they have nothing against each other and had decided to withdraw the complaint as well. Therefore, after 26 days, we disposed of the complaint,” a police official said. Her letter revealed that Aaftab’s parents were aware of their son beating her up. “His parents are aware that he beats me and that he tried to kill me. They also know about us living together and they visit on weekends,” Shraddha’s letter read. A drug addict just out of rehab allegedly went on a killing spree, stabbing four members of his family in southwest Delhi’s Palam area, the police said on Wednesday . The mass murder took place late on Tuesday night. “A person made a PCR call around 10.30 pm claiming he was hearing sounds of quarrel in his neighbourhood after which the police immediately rushed to the location,” Deputy Police Commissioner (Southwest) Manoj C said. Accused Keshav (25) was caught by neighbours and the police while he was trying to bolt. He hacked his 75-yearold grandmother Diwano Devi, parents Dinesh and Darshan, and sister Urvashi with a sharp-edged weapon. One of the family members, while speaking to this newspaper, said the accused spent more than 30 months at a rehabilitation centre and had recently come out of it. “He was a drug addict and had frequent fights with his family. He used to nag them for money,” said Keshav’s cousin Kuldeep Saini, who stayed just a floor below. On Tuesday night, he heard a noisy quarrel and climbed the stairs to check. “I heard screams of my cousin Urvashi after which I rushed upstairs and started banging the door to know her welfare but none opened,” Kuldeep said. Keshav responded from inside asking him to buzz off as it was his family matter. “There was complete silence for 15 mins but in the meantime I had called the police. When the police arrived, Keshav jumped from the second floor to escape but we caught him,” Kuldeep said. In a gruesome manifestation of caste hatred, a 45-year-old woman of Palamadai village in Tirunelveli district strangled her daughter to death with the girl’s stole to stop her from marrying a man from another caste. While the victim, 19-year-old P Aruna, was from MBC (Most Backward Community), the man she loved belongs to Backward Community (BC). The Seevalaperi police have booked Arumugakani for murder. According to sources, “Aruna was studying in a private nursing college in Coimbatore. She was in love with a youth and wanted to marry him. After Aruna told her mother about her love over phone, Arumugakani asked her daughter to come back home to discuss the issue in person. Believing her mother’s words, Aruna came home. But Arumugakani immediately started making arrangements for her marriage with a man from her own caste. Aruna opposed it and was firm on marrying her lover. This led to a quarrel between the two on Tuesday night. As the spat intensified, Arumugakani strangled her daughter with a stole and also attempted to end her life. Hearing the commotion, some neighbours rescued them and sent them to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital for treatment. Doctors of the hospital, however, declared Aruna dead on arrival. The victim’s father and brother are working in Chennai.” The Seevalaperi police arrested Arumugakani who is under treatment at the hospital.  Shraddha Walkar Fadnavis orders probe into letter Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday ordered a probe after this letter surfaced. “Had they (police) taken prompt action, Shraddha would have been alive today,” he said (Clockwise from top left) Accused Keshav, his mother, grandma, father and sister | PTI Cousin threatened When police took Keshav into custody, he threatened Kuldeep of dire consequences. “Once I’m out of jail, you will be next.” P Aruna Strangled with her own stole Aruna was studying in a private nursing college in Coimbatore. Arumugakani, the girl’s mother, strangled her daughter with a stole and also attempted to end her life. Arumugakani was arrested for murder